WWE Crown Jewel Review - October 11, 2025

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Bronson Reed def. Roman Reigns in an Australian Street Fight

We see Street Fights way too often in WWE, so the stipulation wasn't overly exciting on paper, but they made the most of it and had a fun brawl. The interference from Bron Breakker and The Usos was expected, but it played into the story with Reigns previously telling Jey Uso that he didn't want him to get involved and then that factoring into the finish here. I'm glad they went with Reed winning in his home country because this was a huge victory for him and should ideally give him a boost.

Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer def. WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton to Win the Women's Crown Jewel Championship

The lack of build this match got coming into the event was well documented, but it didn't matter once the bell rang. The babyface vs. babyface dynamic didn't hinder them, either. They had a highly enjoyable encounter and the clean win for Vaquer was a nice endorsement, especially since it was stressed ahead of the event that Stratton hasn't been pinned all year.

John Cena def. AJ Styles

These two were never going to have the caliber of match that they did in 2016 and 2017, but this was extremely entertaining, regardless. Thankfully, it was more along the lines of Cena's outing against Logan Paul from Clash in Paris than his Wrestlepalooza matchup with Brock Lesnar in that they hit a ton of finishers and paid tribute to more of their old rivals. Sure, it reached a point of ridiculousness, but the crowd was up for all of it. I'm happy we got Cena and Styles one more time before they both call it a career.

IYO SKY and Rhea Ripley def. The Kabuki Warriors

You put four incredibly talented wrestlers in the ring together and you're guaranteed to get a great match. The crowd was super behind Ripley throughout in addition to being invested in the action. They all had strong chemistry and I appreciated that they received as much time as they did. Even without anything on the line, this delivered. I'm looking forward to SKY feuding with Asuka one-on-one.

World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins def. Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes to Win the Men's Crown Jewel Championship

Although this wasn't on the same level as their other encounters from 2022 (at least from an in-ring standpoint), it was still a very good match with an emphasis on the storytelling. Rollins was desperate to beat Rhodes, but I thought he might need outside help in order to do it, not just by using the watch Rhodes gifted him last year. I love that I was wrong because the outside help would've watered down the finish. Rhodes loses nothing from the loss, and Rollins proved he could win on his own.

Overall Show

Despite the early start time (and most people probably not tuning in live), Crown Jewel turned out to be one of WWE's best premium live events all year. While it wouldn't have hurt to add a sixth match, everything we got was above average and the booking decisions made sense. More importantly, they kept the nonsense to a minimum and produced a straightforward show that allowed the talent to shine in front of a crowd that was hot the entire time.

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